Comparison

Noteful vs Study Stack

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Noteful

This app revolutionizes paperless note-taking on iPad, allowing for handwritten notes, document annotation, and knowledge organization. It offers a fluid writing experience, PDF markup, powerful tagging, and audio recording synced with notes.

Highlights
  • Handwritten notes with Apple Pencil
  • PDF and document annotation
  • Organize notes with tags
  • Layers for annotations
  • Audio recording synced with notes
  • Import PDFs and MS Office documents
Features
Read full description

Noteful is your one-stop note-taking app to experience the new paperless revolution on iPad. Perfect for annotating documents, taking class notes or even building your personal knowledge system. It is time to put aside the paper clutter, as Noteful is a versatile tool that helps you to accelerate your learning and knowledge work. Take Beautiful Handwritten Notes • Natural, fluid and precise handwriting experience • Precise handwriting on iPad with Apple Pencil native support • Custom-built ink engine InfiniteStroke that captures and converts your strokes into high-resolution vector ink • 3 brushes available: ballpoint pen, fountain pen and highlighter • Switch between pen sizes and colours • Recognise geometrical shapes Markup, Highlight, Annotate • Import PDFs, MS Office documents to a notebook • Add images, shapes and typed text to notes • Use multiple paper templates in a single notebook • Export and share handwritten annotations as PDF • Use Quick Create to create a new notebook for quick sketching Powerful Tagging • Organise quickly by tagging with #tag or even #nested/tag anywhere in notebooks • More flexible than folders; Notes can be organised by subjects, by topics or by priorities • Browse notebooks or pages by tags • Rename, delete or re-assign tags to easily re-organise your library Layers in Notebook • Add annotation on separate layers without changing original content* • Hide or show layers independently • Rearrange layers • Make it possible to composite complex layout* All Your Notes, All the Time • Sync to all your iPhone and iPad devices* • Take textbooks, slides, handwritten notes and PDF documents with you wherever you go • Notebooks synced with iCloud are encrypted via account-based keys Powerful Editing • Erase strokes with eraser • Double tap on Apple Pencil to switch to eraser tool • Move and resize annotations with lasso tool • Unlimited undo, redo • Support Split View for multitasking Audio Record Notes • Record audio while you take notes • Audio playback position synced with the notes Modern App Design • A minimalist UI that maximizes content space • Streamlined design that requires fewer taps for common functions • Different orientations are available for the main toolbar • A clean UI that lets you focus on note-taking and the content We will be adding new features so please stay tuned for future updates. — Noteful is free to use without time limit but with certain features (marked with*) only available to users who upgrade to Noteful Pro via In-app purchase. Noteful Pro is available for one-time purchase and the features will be unlocked forever. — If you have support questions or product suggestions, please contact us by support. Wishing you happy note-taking! Customer Support: support@getnoteful.com Privacy Policy: https://www.getnoteful.com/privacy

About

Study Stack

Manage all your academic tasks, assignments, and exams in one organized place. Track daily courses, upcoming deadlines, and overdue work with clear visual indicators. Features a clean interface with light and dark mode support.

Highlights
  • Add courses with details
  • Track assignments and exams
  • View daily courses and upcoming deadlines
  • Mark assignments as complete
  • Sort lists by importance
  • Light and dark mode support
Read full description

Study Stack is a clean and intuitive course manager/ assignment notebook. It allows students to keep track of all assignments, exams, and course schedules in one place. Students can view the day's courses or check off upcoming assignments with ease. Features: • Add courses(includes name, icon, start time, end time, and days of the week) • Add assignments to courses(includes name and due date) • Add exams to courses(includes name and exam date) • Delete courses, assignments, exams, or clear everything to start a new term • View "Today's Courses" to see the days courses in sorted order • Indicators to show if a class is awaiting start, in progress, or concluded • View assignments that are due soon, check off assignments as needed • Overdue assignments show in red • All lists are sorted by importance of course or assignment • View upcoming exams • View all courses or view one course in detailed view • Various filtering options • Clean and responsive UI • Dynamic home screen header, changes based on time of day • Supports light and dark mode • In app banner system

Screenshots

Noteful4 screens
Study Stack4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Study Stack at none against Noteful's 1. Study Stack also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.8) and review sentiment (100% vs 87%). Noteful's advantage is ratings volume (24K vs 2). On price, update cadence, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Noteful sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Study Stack asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Study Stack holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Noteful has 24K ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 87% of Noteful's written reviews are positive against 100% of Study Stack's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 19, 2026 and October 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Noteful versus Study Stack: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNotefulStudy Stack
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (24K ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews86.9% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings24K — better2
Update frequencyFortnightlyFortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.414.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size157 MB1 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNoteful Technologies LtdErik Mederos

Customer experience

Noteful

All ratings23,951 ratings
Positive94.4%
Neutral2.5%
Negative3.1%
Written reviews1,239 reviews
Positive86.9%
Neutral6.5%
Negative6.6%

Study Stack

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Noteful

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Syncing issues across devices
  • Lasso tool not working properly with PDFs
  • Eraser tool not functioning as expected

Requested features

6 requests
  • Handwriting recognition and search
  • More text editing options (bullet lists, etc.)
  • Improved PDF handling and annotations
  • Custom templates and sticker support
  • Expanded cloud storage options (Dropbox, OneDrive, etc.)
Show 1 more
  • Customizable pen pressure and smoothing

Study Stack

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Noteful

One-time1
  • Noteful Pro, Lifetime$6.99
None

Study Stack

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Noteful free?
Noteful is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Study Stack free?
Study Stack is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Noteful or Study Stack?
Study Stack is rated higher. Noteful averages 4.8 out of 5 from 24K ratings, while Study Stack averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do Noteful or Study Stack have ads?
Neither Noteful nor Study Stack shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Noteful or Study Stack?
Noteful ships an update fortnightly, and Study Stack fortnightly. Most recently, Noteful was updated on October 19, 2026 and Study Stack on October 3, 2026.

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